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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027503">black diamond</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddielle/pseuds/maddielle'>maddielle</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>that big picture 'verse [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Future, Anniversary of the Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Childhood Memories, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, Hale Family Feels, Light Angst, M/M, Supportive Stiles Stilinski, Therapy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:55:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,262</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027503</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddielle/pseuds/maddielle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“I need to ask you something.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Derek opened his eyes to tiny slits. “Hm?"</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“About Friday,” Stiles said, wetting his lips. “How are you feeling?”</i>
</p><p>In which the Hale fire anniversary isn't as difficult to weather as it used to be.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>that big picture 'verse [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1614649</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>black diamond</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>more softness and people taking care of each other. y'all tired of it yet?? i'm not</p><p>set a few months after they move in together, between <i>then again</i> and <i>full circle</i></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Every January, Stiles was careful to hold his tongue until about a week before the anniversary of the Hale house fire.</p><p>In the earlier years of their friendship and subsequent relationship, the subject used to unexpectedly insert itself into conversation in the form of angry or tearful words, triggering spells of paralyzing guilt for Derek and helplessness for Stiles. They’d both gotten better about it, especially since had Derek relented and made his first appointment with a therapist in town.</p><p>Nowadays, Stiles wanted to prepare as best he could while also keeping from prying too much, so he waited until a week before to ask how Derek wanted to handle it this time around. For the first few, Stiles had been stuck away at college, Derek insisting he was fine and didn’t need coddling. In Stiles’ senior year, he’d managed to convince Derek to drive up and spend a few days with him; that time, Stiles had skipped his classes and they’d mostly watched movies in bed when not sleeping in each others’ arms, Derek’s face pressed tight under Stiles’ chin. Derek had called Cora and talked with her for a few hours, and Stiles had made sure that Derek was never alone for too long.</p><p>This would be the first passing of the anniversary since moving in together.</p><p>Early in the morning, with a few days to go, Stiles sleepily rolled over after snoozing his alarm and snuggled into Derek’s arm. The weather that January had been surprisingly nippy, and he liked to take advantage of the space heater that was his werewolf boyfriend at every chance.</p><p>“Mm. Morning,” Derek mumbled, moving onto his side. Stiles shifted himself up so their heads were resting on the same pillow at eye level.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>Derek sighed. With his eyes still closed, he said, quietly in the warm peace of their bedroom, “When are you meeting Danny?”</p><p>“About ten,” Stiles murmured, eyes tracing his partner’s eyelashes, relaxed forehead, familiar eyebrows. “We have a few minutes.”</p><p>“Mmph.”</p><p>“I need to ask you something.”</p><p>Derek opened his eyes to tiny slits. “Hm?”</p><p>“About Friday,” Stiles said, wetting his lips. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>Gaze distant, Derek was silent for a long moment. “Okay,” he eventually replied. Stiles longed to clear away the old pain lurking behind sleepy eyes.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“I think so.” Derek slid a heavy arm around Stiles’ waist and held him. “I’ll have you with me this year.”</p><p>“True,” Stiles said, with a small smile. “You had me last year too, you know.”</p><p>“We weren’t in our house together last year.”</p><p><em>Our house. </em>Only a handful of months in, and Stiles was still in happy disbelief that his life had turned out this way. He couldn’t help pushing up onto an elbow and covering Derek’s lips with his own in a single lingering kiss.</p><p>“Okay,” he said, after pulling back. “We’ll just take it easy, then. Hang around, sleep, talk, whatever you need. We could have the pack over? Erica and Boyd would be down, I could check in with Danny and Allison today.”</p><p>With Isaac, Lydia, and Jackson still working on their various post-graduate ventures, it was only the six of them in Beacon Hills at the moment, Erica and Boyd having returned from Canada about a year before and Allison having settled down again and enrolled in a community college program for education. Danny and Stiles had gone ahead with their consulting venture almost as soon as they’d graduated.</p><p>“Maybe,” Derek muttered, closing his eyes again.</p><p>“Alright, sleepy wolf. We’ll talk about it later.”</p><p>Following a quick shower and mad scramble to find his laptop charger, Stiles was out the door and headed into town to meet with Danny. The two of them didn’t yet have enough revenue to rent an office space, so they tended to split their time between Stiles’ house, Danny’s apartment, and the independent coffee spot in town depending on the computing power they needed. Today, they planned to spend some time in the shop working on some data compilation for a small real estate firm based in Beacon Hills.</p><p>Upon meeting and catching up briefly, they worked quietly for several hours, Danny speaking up after returning from the counter with their second round of drinks.</p><p>“So, I just got a confirmation email,” he said “I got a lead for us with a local government office.”</p><p>Stiles raised his eyes from his screen. “What’s the job?”</p><p>“They want to revamp their internal database, completely from scratch.” Danny grinned. “Isaac gave me a contact in his research group. Apparently, they have a sizeable grant and no set timeline for the project. I didn’t wanna make a deal out of it in case it fell through, but they want to go ahead.”</p><p>“Holy shit.”</p><p>“Right?”</p><p>“Okay, so… What’s next?”</p><p>Danny shrugged and leaned his elbows on the table they’d claimed. “Set up a meeting within the next week, draw up a contract. Their office is about three hours drive from here, so one of us is gonna have to make the trip to make a good impression.”</p><p>“That’s alright,” Stiles assured him. “We’ll figure it out between us. When’s your mom’s surgery scheduled for again?”</p><p>“Monday morning.”</p><p>“Okay. Keep me posted on what you hear from your contact, and we’ll set it up.”</p><p>Danny nodded, grateful, and Stiles thanked his lucky stars again for how well they worked together. Six months in, and now they were finally gaining some momentum. Small jobs here and there had produced a bit of income for them both, but hopefully this would be the start of some financial stability for the partnership. While Stiles was lucky enough to call Derek’s house home, he knew Danny would greatly appreciate the opportunity to expand out of his studio apartment.</p><p>If the research group wanted to meet on Friday, Danny would drive so Stiles could be with Derek, and if they preferred Monday, Stiles would go so Danny could be with his mother. Easy.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, it wasn’t that easy. Stiles should’ve knocked on wood when he’d had the chance.</p><p>He was roused early Friday morning by the chirping of his cellphone, early enough that the sky outside the bedroom window was still black. With a low groan, he rolled over from where he’d been spooning Derek from behind and grabbed at his phone, bringing it to his ear without opening his eyes.</p><p>“Jesus Christ, what.”</p><p>“Stiles. Sorry, I know it’s early.” It was Danny, sounding extremely frazzled.</p><p>“Hey, man,” Stiles said, blinking and sitting up. “What’s up?”</p><p>“My mom had some complications. They’re prepping her for surgery right now.”</p><p>“Shit,” Stiles said with a frown. “Is she gonna be okay?”</p><p>“I think so.” Stiles heard the distant sound of a car door slamming through the line. “I’m on my way over with my dad now.”</p><p>“Okay, that’s good. Keep me posted, yeah?”</p><p>“Will do.” Danny paused. “Stiles, you need to meet with the parks staff. The meeting is for ten-thirty, I’m not going to make it.”</p><p>
  <em>Crap.</em>
</p><p>“Um. Is there no way to reschedule?”</p><p>“I mean, we could ask, but their project supervisor is only there today.”</p><p>Stiles rubbed a hand across his forehead, thinking fast.</p><p>“Hey,” a sleepy voice next to him said. “You should go.”</p><p>Stiles twisted to face Derek, phone still clenched in his fingers. “I can’t leave you today,” he whispered forcefully.</p><p>“Yes, you can,” Derek murmured, only half awake. “I’ll be fine. This is about your work.”</p><p>Stiles blew out a breath and said, louder to into the phone, “Okay, dude. I’ll sort it out.”</p><p>“I owe you one. Catch you later.”</p><p>“Bye.”</p><p>Stiles ended the call and tossed his phone to the bed with a sigh. He stayed sitting upright and glared at nothing, frustrated to no end with the universe, and he only flopped on his back again when an arm snaked around his waist and tugged him down.</p><p>“It’s okay,” Derek said, close to his ear.</p><p>“No, it isn’t,” Stiles complained. “I promised you I’d be here.”</p><p>Derek lifted his shoulder in a tiny shrug. “It would have been nice, yeah, but I’m not going to let you waste this opportunity for my sake. I have an appointment with Andrew later today, and the pack is around just in case. How long is the drive?”</p><p>“Three hours,” Stiles told him, only a little miserable.</p><p>“So, you’ll be back by four or five.”</p><p>Chewing on his lip, Stiles rolled to face Derek, close enough for their noses to brush. “Are you totally sure?” he asked.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>After a moment, Stiles nodded. “Okay. I’ll drive as quick as I can. As <em>safely </em>as I can,” he amended when faced with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>“You’d better,” Derek said through a yawn, clearly ready to go back to sleep. “If you think I’m bailing you out when your dad arrests you for speeding, you are sorely mistaken.”</p><p>Stiles snorted and kissed Derek’s forehead. “Message received. ‘Kay, I gotta shower.” He then slid out of bed to start prepping for the day.</p><p>The drive north to the Parks Service office would have nice if Stiles could have relaxed enough to enjoy it. It was overcast but not rainy, and the highway was relatively empty of other travellers. A few hours in, after pulling off at a nondescript exit, he followed a side road for another thirty minutes until a sign directed him down a narrow dirt road to a cluster of buildings and warehouses situated in a large clearing. He was soon met by a young guy, an intern, and brought inside to be introduced to a team of scientists and project managers.</p><p>The meeting went well, in Stiles’ opinion. His clients didn’t seem to have a deep understanding of what they needed since their previous IT manager had transferred out of state, and Stiles had been happy to outline what he and Danny could do for them. After being roped in for a friendly chat over coffee in the employees’ kitchen, he finally left with a promise to follow up with a drafted contract around one in the afternoon.</p><p>He sat the Jeep and texted Danny first who quickly replied, saying the surgery had gone well. Stiles then called Derek’s cell. After he didn’t get an answer the first time, he hung up and redialed. Still nothing.</p><p>It wasn’t totally unheard of for Derek to leave his phone somewhere around the house, or for him to go out and not take it with him. Stiles refused to let himself get anxious about it; there was nothing for him to do except get back to Beacon Hills in one piece and see what was going on for himself, so he popped his keys into the ignition and set off towards home.</p><p> </p><p>He received zero texts or calls from Derek during the entire trip back. Twice, his resolve to act as if everything was normal broke down, and Stiles pulled the car over so he could message Scott and the others, but no one had heard from their pack member. Scott offered to drive over to the house, which Stiles instantly vetoed. Whatever was going on with Derek, the last thing he’d need was smothering.</p><p>The Camaro was still parked by the house when Stiles pulled up at around four-thirty, which was a slight relief. Inside, it was quiet, most lights turned off except for lamp or two in the front hall. Stiles gingerly set his laptop bag on the floor and toed off his shoes before padding into the living room. There, he pulled up short, softening at what greeted him.</p><p>Derek sat in the centre of the sofa with his socked feet resting on the coffee table. It looked if he hadn’t bothered really getting ready for the day, seeing as he was still dressed in what he’d gone to bed in last night, and he had a large book of sorts opened on his thighs. He glanced up and pulled his lips into a grateful smile when he saw Stiles.</p><p>“Hey,” he said softly. His expression was calm yet weary, his eyes a little damp.</p><p>“Hi.”</p><p>“C’mere, I wanna show you something.”</p><p>Stiles crossed the room to him and sat with an arm curled around Derek’s neck, knees drawn up onto the cushion. He rested his chin on Derek’s shoulder and peered at the book, which was actually a photo album. A photo album full of Hales. From a creased photograph pasted to yellowing paper, a young Laura smiled up at them in a summer scene by a lake.</p><p>“I didn’t know you had this,” Stiles breathed.</p><p>“I’d honestly forgotten about it,” Derek said. “I think it was given to my family by some relatives at some point. I found it in in one of the boxes from the vault.”</p><p>Stiles rubbed his nose under Derek’s ear. “Why were you going through those today?”</p><p>“I felt like it.” Derek carefully turned the page; the next series of photos were of what looked like a family dinner. Young Derek, dressed in baggy jeans and a beanie, seemed about thirteen or fourteen. “I’ve been talking with Andrew about avoidance recently. Seemed like a good day to try to tackle it a bit.”</p><p>Stiles never asked what was talked about in Derek's therapy sessions, so he always made sure to carefully pay attention whenever anything was shared.</p><p>“You looked goofy,” he said, tapping a picture in which the three Hale siblings stood for a posed photo on the old porch.</p><p>Derek snorted. “Yeah. Born werewolves aren’t exempt from acne and overgrown teeth, unfortunately.”</p><p>“I would have thought you were cute,” Stiles said, smiling fondly at young Derek’s scowl.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Maybe later, in high school. I probably would have had a crush.”</p><p>Derek reached to turn the page again. “I’m not so sure. I was quiet, awkward. Cora and Laura were the confident ones, but I preferred to stay close to home. I read a lot by myself, helped my dad around the house or with the cars.”</p><p>“That’s just you,” Stiles pointed out, kissing his neck. “You hid it under a lot of leather and glaring for a while, sure. And don’t forget I was, like, the biggest nerd ever to grace the halls of BHHS. We probably would have been great friends.”</p><p>Derek laughed once. “No way. I would have been seriously intimidated by you.”</p><p>“Naw.”</p><p>“Absolutely, yes.”</p><p>Stiles leaned more heavily against Derek's side and turned the next page himself. A larger photo of an attractive older couple graced the page; Talia and her husband. Derek evidently had her eyes, expressive and open, while his classic good looks mostly stemmed from his father. Stiles could see that Cora had inherited Talia’s beauty, and Laura seemed to look equally like both of her parents.</p><p>“They were a good-looking duo,” he murmured.</p><p>Derek nodded slightly. “Yeah. They were ridiculously in love with each other, too. It was kind of gross to me when I was younger.” He huffed. “What I wouldn't give to see them dancing together in the kitchen again. They weren’t really any good at it, but they did it anyway.”</p><p>Stiles stayed quiet at Derek continued to flip through the album. He let a distant feeling of mourning for this beautiful family pass through him, allowed himself a brief moment of anger at the injustice of their demise before carefully putting the emotion away again. Today was for remembering, honouring.</p><p>Derek didn’t speak for a long moment. Then, “I think that’s why I built the house like it is.”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“With so much space,” he clarified. “I grew up with family around, and we always had relatives stopping by and staying with us for long periods of time. The sense of pack was everywhere.” He tilted his head to rest against Stiles’. “I think… I <em>know </em>I want that again. And I want it here, with you.”</p><p>Stiles couldn’t keep a grin from growing on his face. “Caught some baby fever, have we?”</p><p>“I’m well aware I can’t get you pregnant,” Derek said, rolling his eyes.</p><p>“Not for lack of trying.”</p><p>“True.” He closed the album and set it to one side, turning his body to tug Stiles closer to him. “I don’t mean now. Just eventually.”</p><p>“I’m game.” Stiles kissed him. “And, hey, the night’s still young. We could see what our current adopted kids are up to this evening.”</p><p>“You’re not pack mom,” Derek said. “I don’t care what Scott says.”</p><p>“I’m kind of pack mom,” Stiles countered.</p><p>“That would make Scott your pack husband.” Derek flashed his eyes blue as he bared his teeth playfully. “And I’m not interested in sharing.”</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Stiles laughed. “Scott isn’t my type.”</p><p>“And what is your type?”</p><p>“Well, let’s see. Tall, dark, and handsome, to start,” he mused, bring a hand up to stroke through Derek’s hair. “Growly and protective, with a glare powerful enough to set someone on fire. Killer abs and a nice butt, but that’s just the surface stuff.” Stiles pursed his lips in consideration, voice softening. “Strong and selfless. Resilient. Brave.”</p><p>“Stiles…”</p><p>“Deeply loving and loyal.” He smiled briefly and wiped some residue wetness from the corner of Derek’s eye with his thumb. “An amazing friend, mate, brother, and son.”</p><p>The corner of Derek’s mouth twitched up. “That’s a tall order.”</p><p>“Yeah, it is,” Stiles said firmly, looking him straight in the eye. “And I’ve only ever found one person like that, so I’ll be holding on to him, if you don’t mind.” After a pause, he added, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here today.”</p><p>Derek dropped a hand to Stiles’ thigh and rubbed soothingly. “You’re here now.”</p><p>“Yup. And now, you get to decide what we do with the rest of the day.”</p><p>“Hm.” Derek turned his gaze to peer out the front window of the living room, considering while at the same time giving Stiles a gorgeous view of his side profile. He couldn’t keep himself from pressing forward to mouth underneath Derek’s jaw.</p><p>“Maybe not that,” Derek said, amused. “I can hear your stomach growling.”</p><p>“I’m not trying to start anything. I just like you, man.”</p><p>“Sure.” He turned to kiss Stiles’ cheek in return. “I want to order in.”</p><p>“Pizza,” Stiles said immediately. “From Tony’s.”</p><p>“I thought I was calling the shots.”</p><p>“Don’t play games, you love pizza from Tony’s.” Stiles stood and crossed the room to his bag to search for his phone. “The works? With garlic fingers?”</p><p>Derek just nodded, standing as Stiles’ scrolled through his contacts. He interrupted the search, sweeping in for a tight hug before the number for Tony’s Pizzeria could be called, causing Stiles to squawk a little before immediately getting with the program and latching strong arms around Derek’s neck.</p><p>“Hey. You okay?”</p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>Stiles melted against him completely, tipping his head back to rest their foreheads together.</p><p>“I love you, too,” he returned. “So much, in fact, that you can choose the toppings.”</p><p>"Deal."</p><p>               </p><p>Later that night, halfway through a movie with a sleepy Stiles slumped across him, Derek noticed a knot loosening even further within his chest. Every year was a little bit easier, and, while the pain would never completely disappear, he revelled now in being able to revisit memories of his family with fondness and love instead of sour guilt. It left him feeling lighter inside, giving him space to think ahead to the memories he looked forward to making.</p><p><em>Eventually</em>, he told himself. There was no rush.</p><p>They had time. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i picture derek's therapist as an older dad-like dude who wears fisherman sweaters and has a british accent maybe. they share beard grooming tips.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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